MW Elliott's Paul Singer gives rare interview. Here's what he said about markets, crypto and AI.

By Joseph Adinolfi

"The state of stock markets today are just about as risky as I have ever seen," says billionaire investor Singer

"The state of stock markets today are just about as risky as I have ever seen"Paul Singer, founder of Elliott Management

That's Paul Singer, 80, founder and co-CEO of hedge-fund giant Elliott Investment Management, giving a rare interview to the chief of Norway's sovereign-wealth fund.

While the market has endured some notable pullbacks over the past few years - the COVID-19 crash five years ago, and the 2022 bear market certainly come to mind - it has been a long time since investors had to deal with a full-blown disruption on par with what was seen during the 2008 financial crisis, or the bear market that walloped stocks in 1973 and 1974.

In Singer's opinion, that is breeding a dangerous sense of complacency, inspired by the conviction that the government, or the Federal Reserve, will always come running to the rescue.

"The state of stock markets today are just about as risky as I have ever seen. Leverage is building and building, risk-taking is building and those statements apply also to governments. It's absolutely astonishing this NIRP - negative interest-rate policy - in Europe, and Japan, and Switzerland. And ZIRP [zero-interest rate policy] for, what, 10 years, in the U.S.? It's crazy."

Singer also expressed doubts about whether massive investment by a few major technology companies in artificial intelligence will ultimately pay off. Those comments are particularly timely, given that Nvidia Corp. $(NVDA)$, the darling of the AI craze, will report its latest quarterly earnings after the bell on Wednesday.

"This AI is way over its skis in terms of practical value being brought to users," Singer said. "There are uses, and there will be additional uses, but it's way exaggerated."

Judging by the struggles that shares of major AI players like Nvidia have faced in 2025, more investors also appear to be having doubts about the massive capital expenditures being put forward. A proxy for highflying megacap technology stocks, the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF, MAGS entered correction on Tuesday, defined as a drop of at least 10% from an asset's prior peak.

Read: Can Nvidia earnings rally the stock market and stop the bleeding in tech?

The wide-ranging conversation between Singer and Norges Bank Investment Management chief Nicolai Tangen covered a number of topics, from what motivated Singer to stick to his guns during Elliott's 15-year battle with the government of Argentina over a debt default, to what the hedge-fund titan does to relax.

At times, Singer also touched on hot topics, like the Trump administration's embrace of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTCUSD), a move Singer thinks could risk undermining the dollar's status as a reserve currency.

"Countries around the world aren't happy with the privilege that the U.S. government asserts as the reserve country in the world. They'd like alternatives. The dollar DXY sits there, astride the world with all the abuses of that astride-ness. And the U.S., itself, is conjuring or supporting an alternative to the dollar? It makes my head spin."

Singer also argued that Elliott's activist campaigns were more important than ever. Shareholders are increasingly abdicating the role of holding management accountable, he said.

"Fewer and fewer people are acting like owners, and fewer and fewer companies are accepting the notion that the owners have anything to say to management and the board. It's kind of shocking," he said.

"Therefore, we are among a shortlist of people who do call for accountability. And when we win, the shareholders win," Singer said.

Elliott pursues multiple strategies, but the firm is perhaps best known as a pioneer of activist investing. It had a notably busy 2024, with FactSet data showing that Singer's firm was involved in 15 activist campaigns last year, including high-profile investments in Starbucks Corp. $(SBUX)$ and Southwest Airlines Co. $(LUV)$. That was the most of any activist firm, and the largest number for Elliott since 2018, as was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

-Joseph Adinolfi

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February 26, 2025 12:55 ET (17:55 GMT)

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